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Saturday, when I was replacing the coolant sensors on the thermostat housing, I had to move an air hose out of the way. It was so old, dry, and brittle that it just cracked in half easily. I wasn't muscling it around or anything. This is one of the only hoses that hasn't been replaced under my hood simply because I never really thought about it since it doesn't make the engine run any better.

I have no idea what this hose is, what the unit is that it came out of, or where the hose ends up going. Any insight on this?

In the first pic below, I've highlighted the item that the hose comes from. In the second pic, I highlight the routing of the hose in my engine bay in red and the approximate place that I broke the hose in half in green.

At first I thought it might be the AC dryer, but the dryer is the item just forward of my broken-hosed item in the first picture. So, I haven't the slightest clue what this is.

Thanks!

Charcoal canister hose. That hose takes the filtered vapors into the manifold, the other hose comes from the canister in the trunk behind the carpet.

<-jealous of your ABS

[Edit by pdx 528e on [TIME]1110351843[/TIME]]

Thanks. I just found it in the Bentley manual. Chapter 7: Fuel Injection. Page 6 and 7.

So, I'm not going to have filtered fuel vapors entering my engine anymore. If I just plug the hose, this will eliminate the charcoal canister, right?

A quote from the Bentley manual. Chapter 7, Page 7, Table b., the part with two asterisks:

528e models built before March 1987 may have a small restictor installed in the hose between the charcoal canister and the throttle housing. This restrictor is not a purge control valve and is designed to eliminate poor throttle response during warm engine acceleration.

Would the thing in front of my windshield washer reservoir be the "small restrictor" that this quote is referring to? I don't see why I can't use this as a good reason to just go ahead and remove the whole damned charcoal canister system and clean up the trunk and engine bay a little bit.

[QUOTE="Shifty"] 528e models built before March 1987 may have a small restictor installed in the hose between the charcoal canister and the throttle housing. This restrictor is not a purge control valve and is designed to eliminate poor throttle response during warm engine acceleration."]Would the thing in front of my windshield washer reservoir be the "small restrictor" that this quote is referring to? I don't see why I can't use this as a good reason to just go ahead and remove the whole damned charcoal canister system and clean up the trunk and engine bay a little bit.[/QUOTE]

My 83 has a small barb connector right where it passes across the valve cover, about where your break is indicated. Its possible they put it elsewhere in line. I just have straight hose coming off of the canister.

Anyone know off hand when to replace the canister? Clayton didn't you do this a short while ago? I'll do a search.



[Edit by pdx 528e on [TIME]1110352862[/TIME]]

PDX,

Here's a post from Kyle in NO from just this past December. I know I missed this post on the board, because I was working 12-hour shifts that week and hardly even thought about checking the board. Anyway, according to Kyle, when he replaced the $30 charcoal canister, he noticed better idle and more responsiveness from the throttle.

http://forums.mye28.com/e28/messages/153403.html

The charcoal canister is the thing under the hood that I highlighted in my first pic. The thing in the trunk is the evaporative expansion tank.

So basically, unless I want to spring for the $30 charcoal canister and go ahead and replace the canister while I'm playing with its air hoses, I'm probably better off just removing the broken hose, charcoal canister, and expansion tank from the car as a whole, thus eliminating one of the choking emissions controls installed on the car for the US market.

Thanks Shifty, great info. I dont have enough patience for the search engine sometimes. I am pretty sure mine is 22 years old, it has crap coming out of the bottom of it, says BMW and "Purolator" on it. My car DOES have a lot less get up and go when warm. I'm sold!

I remember the one from my blue 528e saying Purolator on it, now that you mention it. I haven't examined the one on my current 528e. Maybe I'll play around with it tomorrow after getting the car buttoned up and running properly after the water pump install today (well, now it was yesterday).

That restrictor is just a one valve valve to not create a vacume leak, you have to plug the line going to the intake or you'll get a leak, if you plug the end on the canister everytime you open the gas tank filler air will hiss out as it will be pressurized instead of being able to vent into the engine. I have the end on the cansiter open to atmosphere on the e30 right now, will be reinstalling the electronic type purge valve when I do the Motronic 1.3 swap.

Shifty,

I wouldn't remove the Expansion Tank from the trunk. Just take the line that goes forward to the Charcoal cannister and disconnect it there. If you're real industrious, you could look into how it's plumbed in the Euro cars. It's my understanding the Euro cars vented the Expansion Tank to a nipple on the fuel filler neck and the Gas Cap was a vented cap.

Whatever you do, make sure you allow the fuel tank to vent to atmosphere if you decide to remove the evaporative purge system.

Rich

Thanks Rich. What I may end up doing is disconnecting the line that comes from the rear, disconnect it from the charcoal cannister. Then, I can just zip-tie it to the coolant tank's vent hose, and both hoses can vent down there by the passenger's side front wheel.

Gotta figure out an industrious way to plug the hole in the manifold now. I wonder if the 525e's had a factory plug. Maybe there's a part number for it. Anyone wanna check their ETK for me? Mine's kaput. Damn, I need another ETK.

[QUOTE="Shifty"]I wasn't muscling it around or anything. [/QUOTE]

Bwaaahaaaaahaaaa...................Brad trying to "muscle" something.

Wooooooh...............thats a good one.

Duke,

You've got to change your handle to something other than M535Ti.

Everytime I see M535Ti it reminds me of the 318ti, you know that pathetic entry level E36 with the chopped off Gremlin look.

Maybe you should switch the letters around to M535iT, or figure out how much peak Torque/HP your beast will be making and get some new numbers ala 745i. SO maybe you'll have the first and only M560i.

Rich

That's what Sam Colt invented the six gun to handle, Shifty.

While you are at it, remove the green leaky thing by the thermostat. It tells the black round thing on your intake boot when to open and let in those vapors. All are opportunites for vacuum leaks. I suspect that this is why we all have rough idles after 18 years.

[QUOTE="rs4pro3"]That restrictor is just a one valve valve to not create a vacume leak, you have to plug the line going to the intake or you'll get a leak, if you plug the end on the canister everytime you open the gas tank filler air will hiss out as it will be pressurized instead of being able to vent into the engine.[/QUOTE]

I concur. I was really surprised the first time I took off my gas cap plugging the lines and removing the caniser. I put the canister back, but will either buy a new one or remove it the right way.

Shifty, let me know if you find a plug for it. I didn't find one on the BMWASAP ETK for a 525e.

[QUOTE="Duke M535Ti"]Bwaaahaaaaahaaaa...................Brad trying to "muscle" something.

Wooooooh...............thats a good one.[/QUOTE]

Fighting fire with fire. . .

Here's Duke getting his ass handed to him by Shifty in the 200 meter dash. You can view the video at the link below.

http://www.oo00oo.com/5erfest/2002/vide ... ndbrad.wmv

[QUOTE="Shifty"]Here's Duke getting his ass handed to him by Shifty in the 200 meter dash. You can view the video at the link below.

[/QUOTE]

DONT BELIEVE IT!!!! It is a video trick..........the sun was in my eyes.....there was an earthquake.................I pulled a muscle......................I took a wrong turn.....................I had a bad start.

A rematch is in order.................thinking 400 meters this time.

[QUOTE="Duke M535Ti"]A rematch is in order.................thinking 400 meters this time.[/QUOTE]

You're on, old man!